IEEE Trans Vis Comput Graph August 2021 PMID 33856998

Can Visualization Alleviate Dichotomous Thinking? Effects of Visual Representations on the Cliff Effect.

Jouni Helske, Satu Helske, Matthew Cooper, Anders Ynnerman, Lonni Besancon

Mentions

45
Peak: 12 in Oct 2021
across 2 sources since Apr 2021

Extended reach

371,069
potential audience

Total likes

56

Video views

308

Mentions per month

Apr 2021 – Oct 2025

Where it's discussed

  • X / Twitter43 posts
  • YouTube2 videos

AI synopsis

What people are saying

Several comments emphasize the significance of visual tools in mitigating binary thinking around p-values and confidence intervals, with mentions of presentations at IEEE and summaries of recent research findings. Word choices like 'effectively', 'gonna', and references to presentations and papers reflect both enthusiasm and scholarly engagement, indicating a positive orientation towards the potential impact of the research.

AgreementModerate agreement

Most discussions support the idea that visual representations can help reduce dichotomous thinking, emphasizing the positive implications of the research.

InterestHigh interest

Posts show high curiosity about the topic, many referencing recent presentations, articles, and sharing their thoughts on improving statistical interpretation.

EngagementModerate engagement

Some comments delve into methodological details and sharing related publications, indicating active participation beyond superficial acknowledgment.

ImpactModerate impact

The discussions suggest this research could influence practices in scientific communication and statistical interpretation, although the overall tone remains exploratory.

Abstract in brief

  • This study investigates how different ways of visually presenting statistical data, especially confidence intervals (CIs), can help reduce the tendency of scientists to interpret results in a black-and-white manner, such as overemphasizing small p-values or overlapping CIs.
  • The researchers ran experiments with experts to see if adding visual cues to confidence intervals decreases the 'cliff effect,' which is the sudden drop in confidence around a p-value of 0.05, and found that visual information can indeed lessen this dichotomous thinking.
  • Overall, the findings suggest that enhancing traditional statistical representations with visual elements can make scientists more nuanced in interpreting results, potentially improving scientific inference and reducing overly simplistic conclusions.

Top posts

Most liked on X and Bluesky
Lonni Besançon
@lonnibesancon · X

J'ai déjà répondu 1000 fois à cette question et c'est documentépar les journaux scientifiques, publications scientifiques, et la presse. https://t.co/6kksppZ3jR https://t.co/eqnDm01tRI https://t.co/4gHO2JAV5C https://t.co/oQRRUmGOHB https://t.co/GjqPGBe192 Chercheur en visu de https://t.co/IaE0vu9zYk

Oct 21, 2025 · 10 likes · 3 shares · 15,070 followers View post →
Lonni Besançon
@lonnibesancon · X

Et ça oublie la partie sur la méthodologie de la recherche, l'Open Science, et la replication de la recherche. Grok en source de vérité... aie! C'est pourtant vérifiable via les papiers publiés. exemple: https://t.co/eqnDm01tRI https://t.co/oQRRUmGOHB https://t.co/4gHO2JAV5C https://t.co/vQWGR7jaTd

Oct 15, 2025 · 10 likes · 1 share · 15,070 followers View post →
Lonni Besançon
@lonnibesancon · X

Because #IEEEVIS is virtual, no excuse this year to not show up to our talk tomorrow (08:45 CT 15:45 CET) "Can visualization alleviate dichotomous thinking?" with @andersynnerman @jouni_helske @satuhelske Preview https://t.co/0jWwHdJf5N #OpenAccess paper: https://t.co/GNtvqnDz1n

Oct 28, 2021 · 7 likes · 3 shares · 15,070 followers View post →
Lonni Besançon
@lonnibesancon · X

Un article en français sur la dichotomisation de la valeur-p: https://t.co/m1pbOva50I L'article dans Nature: https://t.co/zDw9MMtp4S Mes travaux sur la dichotomisation et ses solutions: https://t.co/XHN61aKn2Q https://t.co/GNtvqnDz1n https://t.co/4tuh6hppJQ

Jun 14, 2022 · 6 likes · 2 shares · 15,070 followers View post →
Lonni Besançon
@lonnibesancon · X

Today @andrewgelman shared the results of our paper "Can Visualization Alleviate Dichotomous Thinking?" (https://t.co/B9sT1EUw8p) If you like discussions around the interpretations of p-values, do chime in Poke @satuhelske @jouni_helske @Sonic_urticant https://t.co/BqyKugAcpG https://t.co/9vjhnFoIza

Jun 19, 2023 · 5 likes · 5 shares · 15,070 followers View post →
Lonni Besançon
@lonnibesancon · X

J'ai passé la journée à préparer la présentation de ce papier que je vais présenter fin Octobre. Ça parle de stats, de cliff effect, d'interprétations dichotomiques... ça faisait un moment que j'avais pas présenté en conférence (1 an) et ça me manquait! https://t.co/GNtvqnlXCN

Aug 26, 2021 · 4 likes · 1 share · 15,070 followers View post →

All mentions

FrLecardonnel
@FrLecardonnel · X

RT @lonnibesancon: J'ai déjà répondu 1000 fois à cette question et c'est documentépar les journaux scientifiques, publications scientifique…

Oct 22, 2025 · 3 shares · 1,006 followers View post →
CROM
@CromLoupe · X

RT @lonnibesancon: J'ai déjà répondu 1000 fois à cette question et c'est documentépar les journaux scientifiques, publications scientifique…

Oct 21, 2025 · 3 shares · 1,745 followers View post →
Lonni Besançon
@lonnibesancon · X

RT @lonnibesancon: J'ai déjà répondu 1000 fois à cette question et c'est documentépar les journaux scientifiques, publications scientifique…

Oct 21, 2025 · 3 shares · 15,070 followers View post →
Lonni Besançon
@lonnibesancon · X

J'ai déjà répondu 1000 fois à cette question et c'est documentépar les journaux scientifiques, publications scientifiques, et la presse. https://t.co/6kksppZ3jR https://t.co/eqnDm01tRI https://t.co/4gHO2JAV5C https://t.co/oQRRUmGOHB https://t.co/GjqPGBe192 Chercheur en visu de https://t.co/IaE0vu9zYk

Oct 21, 2025 · 10 likes · 3 shares · 15,070 followers View post →
Lonni Besançon
@lonnibesancon · X

RT @lonnibesancon: Et ça oublie la partie sur la méthodologie de la recherche, l'Open Science, et la replication de la recherche. Grok en s…

Oct 15, 2025 · 1 share · 15,070 followers View post →
Lonni Besançon
@lonnibesancon · X

Et ça oublie la partie sur la méthodologie de la recherche, l'Open Science, et la replication de la recherche. Grok en source de vérité... aie! C'est pourtant vérifiable via les papiers publiés. exemple: https://t.co/eqnDm01tRI https://t.co/oQRRUmGOHB https://t.co/4gHO2JAV5C https://t.co/vQWGR7jaTd

Oct 15, 2025 · 10 likes · 1 share · 15,070 followers View post →
Lonni Besançon
@lonnibesancon · X

@EnriqueNunoz @la_du_K @vrcoffeee @archangemitchel @linval59 LOL. Oui oui ça doit être ça :).

Mar 13, 2024 · 1 like · 15,070 followers View post →
Guillaume Limousin
@Sonic_urticant · X

RT @lonnibesancon: Today @andrewgelman shared the results of our paper "Can Visualization Alleviate Dichotomous Thinking?" (https://t.co/B9…

Jun 19, 2023 · 5 shares · 23,609 followers View post →
Oleksandr Z
@zov911 · X

Can Visualization Alleviate Dichotomous Thinking? Some experimental evidence.: Jouni Helske, Satu Helske, Matthew Cooper, Anders Ynnerman, and Lonni Besançon write: Can Visualization Alleviate Dichotomous Thinking? Effects of Visual Representations on… https://t.co/aaWiRwMnQY

Jun 19, 2023 · 1,838 followers View post →
Finito
@PiedNuke · X

RT @lonnibesancon: Today @andrewgelman shared the results of our paper "Can Visualization Alleviate Dichotomous Thinking?" (https://t.co/B9…

Jun 19, 2023 · 5 shares · 287 followers View post →
Fab Frank
@LockedFab · X

RT @lonnibesancon: Today @andrewgelman shared the results of our paper "Can Visualization Alleviate Dichotomous Thinking?" (https://t.co/B9…

Jun 19, 2023 · 5 shares · 3,259 followers View post →
Lonni Besançon
@lonnibesancon · X

RT @lonnibesancon: Today @andrewgelman shared the results of our paper "Can Visualization Alleviate Dichotomous Thinking?" (https://t.co/B9…

Jun 19, 2023 · 5 shares · 15,070 followers View post →
Norma KHÔL
@lupolynesia · X

RT @lonnibesancon: Today @andrewgelman shared the results of our paper "Can Visualization Alleviate Dichotomous Thinking?" (https://t.co/B9…

Jun 19, 2023 · 5 shares · 922 followers View post →
Lonni Besançon
@lonnibesancon · X

Today @andrewgelman shared the results of our paper "Can Visualization Alleviate Dichotomous Thinking?" (https://t.co/B9sT1EUw8p) If you like discussions around the interpretations of p-values, do chime in Poke @satuhelske @jouni_helske @Sonic_urticant https://t.co/BqyKugAcpG https://t.co/9vjhnFoIza

Jun 19, 2023 · 5 likes · 5 shares · 15,070 followers View post →
Lonni Besançon
@lonnibesancon · X

@bertil_hatt @MaartenvSmeden Actually they lead to just as much dichotomous thinking unfortunately... https://t.co/eqnDm01tRI

Mar 20, 2023 · 2 likes · 15,070 followers View post →
gama
@gamalub · X

RT @lonnibesancon: Un article en français sur la dichotomisation de la valeur-p: https://t.co/m1pbOva50I L'article dans Nature: https://t…

Jun 14, 2022 · 2 shares · 306 followers View post →
Fabrice FRANK
@fabrice_frank · X

RT @lonnibesancon: Un article en français sur la dichotomisation de la valeur-p: https://t.co/m1pbOva50I L'article dans Nature: https://t…

Jun 14, 2022 · 2 shares · 1,331 followers View post →
Lonni Besançon
@lonnibesancon · X

Un article en français sur la dichotomisation de la valeur-p: https://t.co/m1pbOva50I L'article dans Nature: https://t.co/zDw9MMtp4S Mes travaux sur la dichotomisation et ses solutions: https://t.co/XHN61aKn2Q https://t.co/GNtvqnDz1n https://t.co/4tuh6hppJQ

Jun 14, 2022 · 6 likes · 2 shares · 15,070 followers View post →
Lonni Besançon
@lonnibesancon · X

@siminevazire @lakens @RinkHoekstra Re alternative and how to alleviate the cliff effect I just published a paper on the topic with alternative visual representations that you and @RinkHoekstra might be interested in: https://t.co/eqnDm01tRI

Oct 30, 2021 · 1 like · 15,070 followers View post →
Lonni Besançon
@lonnibesancon · X

@lakens Now, how do we do that? Well perhaps better visualization strategies, see: https://t.co/eqnDm01tRI Also, pay attention to the words you use and careful balance boosters and hedges (poke @aeryn_thrace) cf: https://t.co/srS0ifW9mk

Oct 30, 2021 · 15,070 followers View post →
Dr. T.J. Jankun-Kelly
@dr_tj · X

RT @lonnibesancon: Just presented at #ieeevis @ieeevis our take on "Can visualization alleviate dichotomous thinking?" Paper: https://t.co/…

Oct 29, 2021 · 2 shares · 1,018 followers View post →
IEEE VIS
@ieeevis · X

RT @lonnibesancon: Just presented at #ieeevis @ieeevis our take on "Can visualization alleviate dichotomous thinking?" Paper: https://t.co/…

Oct 29, 2021 · 2 shares · 9,363 followers View post →
Lonni Besançon
@lonnibesancon · X

Just presented at #ieeevis @ieeevis our take on "Can visualization alleviate dichotomous thinking?" Paper: https://t.co/GNtvqnDz1n Related on hedging/boosting: https://t.co/srS0ifW9mk Video presentation: https://t.co/Q6V79fwhsB With @jouni_helske @satuhelske @andersynnerman https://t.co/QWfwwvM4du

Oct 29, 2021 · 1 like · 2 shares · 15,070 followers View post →
kun-ting chen
@kuntingchen1 · X

RT @lonnibesancon: Because #IEEEVIS is virtual, no excuse this year to not show up to our talk tomorrow (08:45 CT 15:45 CET) "Can visualiza…

Oct 28, 2021 · 3 shares · 429 followers View post →
Tom Jové
@Tom_Jove · X

RT @lonnibesancon: Because #IEEEVIS is virtual, no excuse this year to not show up to our talk tomorrow (08:45 CT 15:45 CET) "Can visualiza…

Oct 28, 2021 · 3 shares · 950 followers View post →
Lonni Besançon
@lonnibesancon · X

Because #IEEEVIS is virtual, no excuse this year to not show up to our talk tomorrow (08:45 CT 15:45 CET) "Can visualization alleviate dichotomous thinking?" with @andersynnerman @jouni_helske @satuhelske Preview https://t.co/0jWwHdJf5N #OpenAccess paper: https://t.co/GNtvqnDz1n

Oct 28, 2021 · 7 likes · 3 shares · 15,070 followers View post →
Lonni Besançon
@lonnibesancon · X

RT @GlasgowTea: Did you miss our session on the 30th? If you conduct empirical research, I would encourage you to watch this video and cons…

Oct 4, 2021 · 1 share · 15,070 followers View post →
GlasgowTea
@GlasgowTea · X

Did you miss our session on the 30th? If you conduct empirical research, I would encourage you to watch this video and consider how we communicate research findings. Fantastic presentation from @lonnibesancon https://t.co/lyX6yXebek

Oct 4, 2021 · 2 likes · 1 share · 295 followers View post →
Lonni Besançon
@lonnibesancon · X

@CThoulon On peut tous et on devrait parler de la robustesse des résultats. Les crises de réplication ça arrive pas qu'aux autres. Ah et du coup j'ai la pertinence d'en parler vu que c'est mon sujet de recherche ou pas? https://t.co/4tuh6hppJQ https://t.co/eqnDm01tRI

Sep 29, 2021 · 15,070 followers View post →
GlasgowTea
@GlasgowTea · X

RT @lonnibesancon: Very happy to join @GlasgowTea to talk about the understanding & communication of uncertainty in empirical research! Loo…

Sep 16, 2021 · 1 share · 295 followers View post →
Lonni Besançon
@lonnibesancon · X

Very happy to join @GlasgowTea to talk about the understanding & communication of uncertainty in empirical research! Looking forward to this! I'll be mentioning 4 of my recent papers: https://t.co/GNtvqnDz1n https://t.co/FNpyimJgWI https://t.co/XHN61aKn2Q https://t.co/KowLIN8QV9 https://t.co/IPytG1Tqzh

Sep 16, 2021 · 1 like · 1 share · 15,070 followers View post →
Lonni Besançon
@lonnibesancon · X

Some positive perspective on how we could avoid such dichotomous reasoning (and language)? Well perhaps visual results of inferential results might help in reducing such binary interpretation. See our recent paper (https://t.co/GNtvqnDz1n) for more info 20/n

Sep 15, 2021 · 1 like · 15,070 followers View post →
Fabrice FRANK
@fabrice_frank · X

RT @lonnibesancon: J'ai passé la journée à préparer la présentation de ce papier que je vais présenter fin Octobre. Ça parle de stats, de c…

Aug 26, 2021 · 1 share · 1,331 followers View post →
Lonni Besançon
@lonnibesancon · X

J'ai passé la journée à préparer la présentation de ce papier que je vais présenter fin Octobre. Ça parle de stats, de cliff effect, d'interprétations dichotomiques... ça faisait un moment que j'avais pas présenté en conférence (1 an) et ça me manquait! https://t.co/GNtvqnlXCN

Aug 26, 2021 · 4 likes · 1 share · 15,070 followers View post →
Lonni Besançon
@lonnibesancon · X

@Nibor_Tolum @Scilabus On a un papier de recherche sur ce que ce genre de plots peut apporter. Ça te plaira sûrement l'ami :). https://t.co/eqnDlZJSt8 C'est. #OpenAccess :)

Aug 12, 2021 · 2 likes · 15,070 followers View post →
arXiv CS-HC
@arxiv_cshc · X

Can visualization alleviate dichotomous thinking? Effects of visual representations on the cliff effect https://t.co/lbr1DbmTnV

May 31, 2021 · 1,027 followers View post →
Lonni Besançon
@lonnibesancon · X

RT @arxiv_cshc: Can visualization alleviate dichotomous thinking? Effects of visual representations on the cliff effect https://t.co/lbr1Db…

May 31, 2021 · 1 share · 15,070 followers View post →
arXiv CS-HC
@arxiv_cshc · X

Can visualization alleviate dichotomous thinking? Effects of visual representations on the cliff effect https://t.co/lbr1DbmTnV

May 30, 2021 · 1 like · 1 share · 1,027 followers View post →
Lonni Besançon
@lonnibesancon · X

@raphaels7 @DavidSteadson @whizdaddy @MicrobiomDigest @GidMK @DrZoeHyde @dgurdasani1 @DrEricDing @nathanpsmad @T_Fiolet So they work You apparently still think dichotomously... You might not be aware of it but you're now diving into my research topic. Dichotomous interpretations of p-values and CIs are wrong. See: https://t.co/XHN61b1XUo and https://t.co/eqnDlZJSt8 or https://t.co/4tuh6hH0Bo

May 4, 2021 · 1 like · 15,070 followers View post →
arXiv CS-HC
@arxiv_cshc · X

Can visualization alleviate dichotomous thinking? Effects of visual representations on the cliff effect https://t.co/lbr1Db5hZl

Apr 14, 2021 · 1,027 followers View post →
arXiv CS-HC
@arxiv_cshc · X

Can visualization alleviate dichotomous thinking? Effects of visual representations on the cliff effect https://t.co/lbr1DbmTnV

Apr 14, 2021 · 1,027 followers View post →
arXiv CS-HC
@arxiv_cshc · X

Can visualization alleviate dichotomous thinking? Effects of visual representations on the cliff effect https://t.co/lbr1Db5hZl

Apr 14, 2021 · 1 like · 1,027 followers View post →
arXiv CS-HC
@arxiv_cshc · X

Can visualization alleviate dichotomous thinking? Effects of visual representations on the cliff effect https://t.co/lbr1DbmTnV

Apr 13, 2021 · 1,027 followers View post →